Whether you say po-tay-to or po-tah-to, you gotta call a recent marketing move by a startup called Potato Parcel what it is: a strange, starchy stroke of genius.

In mid-March, a bunch of NBA players started posting to social media photos of potatoes bearing messages or images on them that they had received in the mail. Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki got one emblazoned with his own colorful photo. “Whoever sent me this POTATO!!!! Much appreciated….,” he tweeted.

“You don’t get a potato every day,” Nowitzki later philosophically mused to ESPN. (So true.)

Kevin Durant, of the Golden State Warriors, apparently received a tuber carrying the message: “Wishing you a quick recovery, KD! Hope this stupid potato eases the pain.” (Durant recently injured his left knee.) He shared a picture of it and tweeted his response two days after Nowitzki had shared his. “Treatment and inspirational potatoes. Thanks, whoever you are.”

Somewhere in there, the Chicago Bulls thanked the “potato fairy” for their image-bearing potatoes. The Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside offered a “shoutout” to whoever sent him his potato, which showed him with his record-producer pal DJ Khaled. The Indiana Pacers’ C.J. Miles (via his wife, Lauren), Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers player Nick “Swaggy P” Young and others all received spuds and shared responses on Twitter and/or Instagram as well.

Young said he thought, at first, that the personalized potato was “some kind of voodoo.” But no, SB Nation reports, it was the handiwork of a new company called Potato Parcel that exists expressly to enable the sending of messages on potatoes.

“Potato Parcel is a brand-new way of sending anyone you know a custom message written on a potato,” the company’s founders explained to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the other “sharks” on Season 8 of Shark Tank.

The whimsical spud senders had shipped off inscribed potatoes to something like 150 NBA players — and got heaps of free advertising in response for their stunt.

Guess that’s why they’re making the big bucks.

Anyone who would like to have a personalized potato sent to someone they know can do so via the Potato Parcel website. There’s a 130-character limit on messages (only so much room on a potato, you know), and the specially inked spuds (which you are advised not to eat) are carefully packaged to prevent breakage.

Because you may want to send a mash note, but you’d probably prefer to avoid sending a mashed note.

Photo courtesy of @swaggyp1